Protective masks are used in physical games in which the head of the player may be subjected to impacts and projectiles. For instance, the game of paintball is a simulation of a war game in which participants eliminate other participants by hitting the latter with paint bullets that will visually display a hit.
Accordingly, in such games, full face masks are worn to protect the face and the eyes of the participants from the projectiles. Such protective masks have see-through lenses, which protect the eyes from projectiles while not impeding the vision of the wearer.
Due to the physical nature of such games, the see-through lens may be damaged by projectiles or through physical contact, or simply dirtied by paint or the like. Therefore, the lens is often removable from the face mask, so as to be replaced or cleaned.
To facilitate removal and installation of see-through lenses from face masks, various connection systems have been developed. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,749, issued to Cyr on May 7, 2002, describes an anchor clamp for releasably securing a see-through lens to a face mask. This anchor clamp has a wedge portion that is connected to a strap. This wedge portion is displaceable with respect to the strap so as to reach a position in which the lens is retained to the face mask.
Due to the risks associated with inadvertent disengagement of a lens from the face mask, it is desired to provide protective masks providing secure connections of the lens to the face mask. On the other hand, the lens must be replaceable, and this should ideally be rapidly and simply executed.